Brett Piazza was stopped in traffic in Mandeville, on his way to buy doughnuts, when his life took a drastic turn four years ago. The pharmaceutical salesman was waiting to make a right turn onto Louisiana 22 when his vehicle was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler. Piazza was left disabled to the point that he can no longer work.

View full sizePhotos by Ted Jackson, The Times-PicayuneMarc Jones of Sunpro Solar looks over the solar panels on Brett and Amy Piazza's roof in the Estates of Northpark subdivision near Covington, The Piazzas are being sued by their homeowners association for installing the solar panels on their house.

Just 40 years old, he relies on disability payments to support his two young sons, while his wife, Amy, often works overnight shifts as an ICU nurse to help pay the bills. So Piazza tried something he hoped would help cut down on the family's expenses, noting an especially high electric bill that at one point reached $460 a month. He had solar panels installed on the roof of his house in the Estates of Northpark near Covington in March and cut his family's time on the grid -- and his electricity costs -- by about 80 percent.

But the time for celebration never came. Before he ever received his first post-solar electric bill, his homeowners association sued him, saying Piazza had not gotten permission to install the panels on his house.

Neighbors in the gated enclave -- typical of many newer, upscale subdivisions in St. Tammany Parish -- also complained that the eco-friendly panels are "unsightly," according to the lawsuit.

St. Tammany Parish government does not regulate things like solar panels, nor does it attempt to tell people what they can or can't have on the exterior of their homes.

Consequently, parts of unincorporated St. Tammany are an aesthetic free-for-all, while in other locations, restrictive covenants are part of the deal when homeowners buy into certain neighborhoods. Homeowners associations often are diligent in policing their subdivisions for violations of those agreements, which are designed to create a uniformed look and protect property values.

In this case, a state judge will have to resolve the conflict between a homeowners association's insistence on aesthetic conformity and a resident's right to participate in a state-endorsed conservation program.

Association takes notice

Piazza paid almost $60,000 for the panels, but the state and federal government will refund a total of 80 percent of the money as part of its energy-efficiency programs. And while he could have gotten more bang for his buck had he gone with the typical silver-lined panels, he opted to purchase slightly lower-wattage, all-black panels that blend in better with his roof.

The panels, which capture light energy from the sun and convert it into electricity, are on the side of his house, facing the driveway, in an area where few people would notice them from the street. They lie flat along the roof line and only protrude slightly from the depth of the shingles already there.

Amy and Brett Piazza were hoping to cut down on their monthly electricity bills by installing solar panels on their roof. Now they could be faced with an even higher bill from a lawsuit.

Though the lawsuit states that neighbors complained about the panels, Tim Pazos said this week that he and his wife, Toni, who live a few doors down from the Piazzas, have no problem with the panels.

Pazos said the homeowners association is there to make sure people don't park junk cars in their driveways and that the properties are well-kept. But he said that sometimes it can be petty, noting the time he received a letter from the association because his garbage can was still on the curb one day past collection day.

Liz Vollenweider, the property manager for the Estates of Northpark and the point person for the homeowners association, said this week that she couldn't comment on issues regarding the neighborhood. The attorney representing the association in the lawsuit against Piazza did not return a message left with Vollenweider for comment.

The case is set for trial on Aug. 15 at 22nd Judicial District Court in Covington.

No rules on solar panels

In the suit, the Estates of Northpark said Piazza did not submit his plan for solar panels to the homeowners association board or its Architectural Control Committee for approval. The lawsuit states that Piazza had to get such permission before making any improvement that changed the exterior of his home.

Ginger DeForest, Piazza's attorney, said solar panels aren't specifically mentioned in the restrictive covenants and don't constitute an improvement anyway. She said the panels are an energy source and, thus, aren't subject to the rules of the subdivision.

Parish Councilman Marty Gould, who represents the neighborhood, said Vollenweider had called him to ask whether the parish had any prohibitions on solar panels, and he told her it did not. He said people shouldn't be looking to tattle on their neighbors, but when they do, the homeowners associations have a duty to respond.

"The parish doesn't legislate pretty, and ugly is in the eye of the beholder," he said, noting that he is thinking about installing solar panels at his house but he expects he first would have to go through his homeowners association.

Pointing to federal law

DeForest said the association's stance flies in the face of the National Environmental Policy Act, which declares that the federal government, in cooperation with state and local governments, and other private and public entities, should work to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can co-exist.

In addition, she noted that state law references the use of solar panels, saying "no person or entity shall unreasonably restrict the right of a property owner to install or use a solar collector." However, it also stipulates that the law shall not supersede zoning restrictions or certain servitudes or building restrictions that "require approval prior to the installation or use of solar collectors."

DeForest said further that the homeowners association had no reasonable process in place to approve or disapprove solar panels. Noting that the association said in its lawsuit that it had turned down two other residents who wanted to install panels before Piazza did, DeForest said the process simply seems to be to say "no" to all requests.

Amy Piazza said she likes the money the family is saving by using the solar panels, but she also enjoys doing her part to help save the environment. She said she never thought doing so would result in such a contentious turn of events.

"We didn't start out to be big leaders in the green movement," she said. "In no way did we imagine it would cause this kind of turmoil. It's solar panels."